By Johanna Goldberg, Information Services Librarian

Summertime is swimming time! Two books from our collection, published exactly 100 years apart, offer beach tips (some of which have aged better than others).

Title page, J. Frost, The Art of Swimming, 1818.

In The Art of Swimming (1818), J. Frost encouraged parents to teach their sons to swim:

“Some parents may object to their children being taught the art of swimming, from an apprehension that they would be more exposed to danger, on account of its inducing them more frequently to bathe: to them I would reply, that bathing produces very salutary effects, and expert swimmers are seldom in danger in the water; while, to those who are ignorant of the art, bathing is really dangerous.”¹

Frost was ahead of his time. In the 19^th century, New York and many other U.S. cities fined people for public swimming (no day swimming in the East River! It’s “‘extremely offensive to spectators.’”). As is evident from the male-oriented focus of Frost’s book, swimming only became acceptable for women with the availability of gender-segregated facilities. It was not until the mid-1800s—the age of a growing fitness movement—that upper and middle class Americans turned to swimming as recreation at seaside destinations and private fitness clubs. Public pools opened around the same time, but with a hygienic mission rather than a recreational one.²

In a footnote, Frost explains why learning to swim was so important:

“The writer, when young, had the happiness to rescue his brother from a watery grave; and he has lately had the pleasure to hear, that two of his pupils were the means of saving a person from drowning; and still more recently, that one of his pupils was preserved by swimming, when accidentally thrown from a ferry on the river Trent, though encumbered with his clothes.”¹

In addition to 49 pages of swimming instructions, followed by the text of a swimming-related letter written by Benjamin Franklin, the book includes “twelve copper plate engravings comprising twenty-six appropriate figures, correctly exhibiting and elucidating the action and attitude, in every branch of that invaluable art.”¹

Click on an image below to view a selection of these plates:

Action of the legs. “The first part of the action of the legs, is to draw them in as high as possible; when a turn of the ancle must be made, so as to cause the soles of the feet to incline outward, the knees at the same time inclining inward [fig 1]; the feet must now be struck out as widely from each other as can be done, to the extent of the legs [fig 2].”

Plate 5, The Art of Swimming: “Figure the first shows the attitude out of water, & I advise that it be attended to in all the future preparatory exercise. Figure the second shows the same attitude swimming. Figure the third represents a person swimming with difficulty because his attitude is completely wrong.”

Plate 6, The Art of Swimming: Swimming on the back. “If a right position is observed [as in figs 1 and 2], and the legs are smoothly and accurately exercised, this was of swimming will be rendered easy and pleasant.”

Plate 7, The Art of Swimming: “To perform what is called winging, the arms must be extended out, until they come in a line with each other; then the hands being turned breadthways [fig 1], to lay hold of the water, are to be brought briskly down to the thighs; they must then be turned edgeways [fig 2], to lead gently out, and again breadthways, and brought down as before.”

Plate 8, The Art of Swimming: Treading water. “Having…chosen a place where the water will reach up to the neck, the arms should be folded across, below the breast [figs. 1 and 2], and the legs must be exercised as in front swimming, with a difference only in time and space.”

Plate 9, The Art of Swimming: Diving. “In order to descend in the water the head must be bent forward, so that the chin may rest upon, and compress the breast; and the back must be made round [fig 1]…To move forward, the head must be raised, and the back straightened a little [fig 2]; and to ascend, the hands must be struck out high, and brought briskly down, and the attitude must be entirely reversed; that is, the chin must be held up, and the back must be made concave [fig 3].”

Plate 10, The Art of Swimming: Floating. “Should the feet seem too heavy, or incline to descend, the hands or fingers must be raised a little out of the water: this will counterbalance the feet, the breast being the center of buoyancy [fig 1]…To remain suspended in the water…the head must be thrown back, and the chin elevates higher than the forehead; the breast must be inflated, the back made quite hollow, and the arms and hands kept under water [fig 2].”

Plate XI, The Art of Swimming: Instruments. Fig 1: A cork floatation device. Fig 2: A “bellyboard” made with cork. “As these instruments afford buoyancy, as well as preserve the proper attitude , the swimmer will be at liberty to attend to the cause of his error.”

Plate 12, The Art of Swimming: Playful swimming. “To spin with ease, the person should be somewhat buoyant; the breast must be well inflated, and the attitude may be that of sitting with the feet crossed [fig 1]….The stream is the most favourable position for rolling, as it very much assists the turn. To achieve this, the person must lay himself straight across the current; he must inflate his breast, and hold his head very backward; his legs may either lie together, or be crossed; he must exercise his hands in the same manner as in spinning [fig 2].”

Cover of Dalton, Swimming Scientifically Taught, 1918.

By 1918, when Frank Eugen Dalton published Swimming Scientifically Taught, America was on the cusp of a golden age of swimming. From 1920–1940, pools opened in more than 1,000 cities across the country as centers for recreation for men and women of all classes.²

Yet public pools were not Dalton’s focus, at least not in his introduction. He paints this evocative picture:

“When slaves of the desk and the counting-house are looking forward for an all too brief vacation and seek the mountains or seashore to store up energy for another year’s work, they should know how to swim. Poor indeed is the region which can not boast of a piece of water in which to take an invigorating plunge.”³

Dalton’s enthusiasm for swimming was limitless: “Most other forms of exercise, after they have been participated in for some time, are apt to become something like efforts, or even hardships. Swimming, on the other hand, continues to be exhilarating.”³

Dives. In Dalton, Swimming Scientifically Taught, 1918, pp. 98-99.

Dalton believed that all but the most nervous person could “become a very fair swimmer” by reading his book.³ In addition to teaching basics, like the back stroke, breast stroke, and side stroke, the book also covers more advanced ground. Dalton shows a number of dives, a maneuver called “The Monte Cristo Sack Trick,” and includes instructions for learning to swim while clothed (“Practice first with a coat, then with a coat and waistcoat; next add trousers, and last the shoes and stockings”) and with hands and feet tied (a trick for advanced performers).³

The Monte Cristo Sack Trick. Dalton, Swimming Scientifically Taught, 1918, p. 142.

The final chapters focus on emergency response. Dalton describes two forms of resuscitation, Hall’s and Sylvester’s.³ Hall’s originated in 1856 as a method that did not require artificial respiration.⁴ Sylvester’s similar procedure followed two years later.⁵ Neither were very effective. It wasn’t until 1958 that mouth-to-mouth ventilation—a practice recommended by some medical societies as early as the 1770s—regained acceptance.⁴ Two years later, the American Heart Association developed CPR.⁶

Rule 1 of the Sylvester technique. Dalton, Swimming Scientifically Taught, 1918, p. 191.

Whether you prefer Frost’s or Dalton’s instructions, swim safely this summer.

References

1. Frost J. The art of swimming: A series of practical instructions, on an original and progressive plan…to which is added, Dr. Franklin’s treatise, also some anecdotes respecting swimming. New York: P.W. Gallaudet; 1818.

2. Wiltse J. Contested waters: A social history of swimming pools in America. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press; 2007.

3. Dalton FE, Dalton LC. Swimming scientifically taught: A practical manual for young and old. Fifth ed. New York; London: Funk Wagnalls Co.; 1918.

4. Fahey DG. The self-inflating resuscitator—evolution of an idea. Anaesth Intensive Care. 2010;38 Suppl 1: 10–5.

5. Liss HP. A history of resuscitation. Ann Emerg Med. 1986;15(1): 65–72. doi: 10.1016/S0196-0644(86)80490-5.

6. American Heart Association. History of CPR. Available at: http://www.heart.org/HEARTORG/CPRAndECC/WhatisCPR/CPRFactsandStats/History-of-CPR_UCM_307549_Article.jsp. Accessed June 24, 2015.